OCEAN CITY, Md.- A Maryland father is praising Ocean City Beach Patrol for a rescue last summer that saved his son.
Nearly six months ago on the Fourth of July, Ben Paepcke was swimming in the Ocean City waters when things took a turn for the worse. Ben dove into shallow water head-first. He was 19 at the time. Lifeguards RJ Hayman and Matt Postell, both 21 at the time, rushed to the water as Ben was face down. The 19-year-old broke his neck and suffered a spinal cord injury.
A recent email to the Beach Patrol from Ben's father, Matt, praises their quick and life-saving actions. The email was shared to the OCBP's Facebook page.
Matt goes on to say, "As a Maryland resident for most of my life, I am well aware of the OCBP’s world class reputation. Unfortunately my son got to witness this first-hand. Ben broke his neck diving in to the surf on July 4th 2019. Crew 7 responded within seconds and safely pulled him out of the ocean. Their quick response saved his life as he was paralyzed face down in the water. A few days ago, our family was honored by a visit from RJ and Matthew, two of the guards involved with his rescue. Although they spent most of the evening with Ben, I could easily tell that these two young men are of the highest quality. Ben is currently considered a tetraplegic. He is recovering very slowly, but at least, thanks to the OCBP, he is alive."
Additional praise and even personal stories were found in the comment section. Many sent their prayers and blessings to Ben as he continues to go through recovery.
A GoFundMe that was set up after the accident has brought in nearly $95,000 for Ben and his family to pay medical bills.